One Wedding Night...

by Shirley Rogers

  Ashley looked at her with speculation. “Do you have a time frame of some kind?”

  Put on the spot, Lynn couldn’t even think straight. “Six months,” she declared, thinking that was a plausible amount of time. That would give her and Russ a reasonable amount of time to break off their engagement.

  “Jeez,” Ashley gasped. “That’s hardly enough time to plan a proper wedding, especially with the baby arriving.” She put her palm against her stomach and patted it. “Do you want me to start making some preliminary notes?”

  “Um, yeah, sure,” Lynn replied, distracted. “Right now I have something to do. Can we talk about this later?” She barely waited for Ashley’s response before she took off and went out the front door.

  Whew, that was close. She walked across the yard toward the barn. She was almost there when she spotted Russ. He’d already saddled a palomino stallion and was working with him inside the corral. The horse was almost ready to be returned to his owner.

  She climbed up on the fence and leaned her elbows over the top to hold herself in position. Watching him, she realized how fortunate she’d been to work with him all these months. Though he hadn’t allowed her to move as fast in training as she’d hoped, he’d been a good mentor. A year of working with him had taught her that, she reluctantly admitted. While earlier she’d complained to Jake that Russ was dragging his feet training her, as she watched him with the horse, she was awed by his remarkable patience and skill and realized how very lucky she was to work with him.

  If he hadn’t been so ornery most of the time, they would’ve argued less and she might even have enjoyed working with him.

  A little while later, he dismounted and started loosening the saddle, then hefted it on his shoulder and walked toward the gate. Watching the byplay of the muscles in his arms and chest, Lynn gulped, then realized she’d been caught staring when he stopped at the gate and looked up at her. Without speaking, she jumped off the fence as he opened the gate. Avoiding his gaze, she closed it for him. However it wasn’t possible to ignore his intense look, and she felt compelled to face him.

  “I was wondering if you had a chance to take care of that errand we talked about?” Lynn was beginning to hate the blush that rose to her cheeks whenever she broached the subject of the pregnancy test.

  Russ nodded. He’d noticed her coming across the yard and had already figured out what she wanted. She’d pretty much avoided him after their intimate interlude in the barn, and he’d been wondering if he was going to have to go and find her. “It wasn’t easy, but, yeah, I did actually.”

  He started walking toward the barn, and she fell into step beside him, careful not to get too close. She actually had to stop herself from touching him. “If you give it to me, I can, um, take care of it.”

  “It’s in my room,” he informed her, walking inside and dumping the saddle in the barn. He turned and looked at her. “I’ll get it for you.”

  Nodding, ready to get it over with, she followed him to his quarters. Russ reached his door, opened it and stood back for her to enter. Lynn flashed him a quick glance, then stepped inside. Immediately upon entering, her entire body felt as if it had gone through a time warp. Her gaze went to the unmade bed, and she saw an image of herself there, naked and writhing against him. A knot formed in her throat, and she swallowed hard to dislodge it.

  As if unaware of her dilemma, Russ disappeared into the bathroom. To keep her mind busy, she glanced around the room. Other than the bed, everything was basically tidy, with only a few things out of place. He’d been reading, she noticed, as she picked up a mystery novel on his bedside table. It was a popular title, written by a well-known writer. A torn piece of newspaper inserted a quarter of the way through served as a bookmark.

  Digesting that, she put it down. She didn’t know Russ liked to read. Actually, she really didn’t know a lot about him personally, and she realized that regardless of what happened between them, she was curious about him.

  She swung around when she heard a noise. Russ had walked back into the room and had a small brown bag in his hand.

  “This wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to get. There was a lot of stuff to choose from.” As she approached him, Russ was distracted by the gentle sway of her breasts.

  “Let me see.” He held it out to her, and she opened the bag and took out a blue box with black writing.

  “How does it work?”

  Frowning, she put her hand on her hip. Her gaze came up to meet his. “I really wouldn’t know.”

  Russ took a step back. She was close enough for him to touch, and he was having trouble resisting the temptation. He hadn’t been able to think straight since yesterday when he’d kissed her in the barn. “I was just asking. I figured since you’re a woman, you’d know about these things.”

  Lynn sank down on the edge of his bed. “Ah, like it’s something every woman should know about? Kinda like all men should know the year and make of a car just by looking at it?”

  Russ dignified her words with a nod. “Well, yeah.” He sat beside her on the bed. It dipped with his weight, shifting her closer to him, and the sweet scent of her reached his nostrils.

  She made a face at him, and he grinned. Then she became conscious of how close they were sitting and tried to scoot away a little as she returned her attention to the box and studied it. “This doesn’t look right,” she said, ignoring the quickening of her pulse. She held it a little closer. “I don’t think you bought the right thing.” Concentrating again on the box, she was quiet for a moment.

  Before she realized his intention, Russ took the box from her. “It has the word pregnancy right there on it,” he pointed out, stabbing at it with his index finger. Lynn grabbed at the box, but he held it out of her reach, using his other arm to ward off her attempts at getting it back.

  “Russ, give me that!” she demanded, and her voice rose. She caught him off guard and snatched it from him, then studied the box again. “You idiot! This isn’t a pregnancy test,” she wailed. “It’s a kit to determine ovulation!”

  He’d been grappling with her, shoving the kit away from where she had it prominently displayed in front of his face. His movements suddenly stopped. “What?”

  “You know, the kind of test a woman takes when she wants to get pregnant.” Her tone was less than tolerant. “How on earth did you pick this up by mistake?” she asked sharply, getting to her feet, her stance rigid.

  “I told you there was a lot of stuff to choose from,” he said, defending himself, charging to his feet to confront her. “You were the one who said it wouldn’t be hard.”

  “Well, you were the one who said you’d get it. If I’d known you couldn’t do it right, I’d have found a way to do it myself.”

  “I did the best I could under the circumstances! Or did you want your brother to know what I was buying? As it was, I had to make up an excuse to leave the meeting and sneak into a nearby store to hunt for the damn thing!”

  Lynn glared at him. “Well, you couldn’t have gotten it more wrong!”

  Russ grabbed the box from her and threw it at the trash can. It bounced off the rim, then fell inside. “We’ll get another one, then.”

  “I don’t know when.” They were both aware that fall was a busy time on the ranch. Everyone was expected to pitch in and help get the work done and that included both of them.

  “Hell, we’ll just have to make time,” he stated, glaring at her, annoyed that they’d have to wait. He took a deep breath and was quiet for a moment. “Look,” he told her, making an obvious effort to talk in a civil tone, “it won’t do any good to argue about it. There’s nothing we can do until we get one.”

  “I know,” she answered, her tone more rational as she calmed down. Still, disappointment shadowed her eyes.

  Russ stared at her, then he moved closer to her and put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m really sorry I messed it up.”

  Lynn focused on the strong column of his throat. His nearness was causing havoc
inside her. It had been in this very room that he’d made love to her. Unable to speak, she lifted her gaze, and his green eyes drew hers. She touched his chest, laying her palm against it, and she felt his body tense. “I’m sorry, too, for yelling at you. It’s really not your fault.” For a moment, they stared at each other in crushing silence.

  “Damn.” Russ had been in control until she’d touched him. All hell broke loose inside him, and he reached for her, pulling her tight against him. “You’re going to be the death of me yet,” he whispered, sounding frustrated. Then he brought his mouth down hard on hers.

  Lips touched, tongues met. Their bodies melded together as passion exploded between them. His hands were at her blouse almost immediately, jerking it from her pants. All Lynn could think about was helping him get it off. She wanted to feel his hands on her body. She’d die if she had to wait a moment longer. As he quickly worked the buttons through the loops, she began to do the same to his shirt. A button popped off. She wasn’t sure whose it was, but she didn’t really care.

  She was down to just her bra and jeans by the time he backed her against the bed, and they fell in a heap on it. His body pressed hard against hers, and she struggled to help him get his shirt off, kissing him back as if her very life depended on it.

  “Hurry,” she pleaded, her hips writhing as her bra fell away and his hand covered her breast. His thumb grazed her nipple as his mouth found the other one. She arched her back as his teeth gently teased it. Her breath came in snatches. She moaned deep and low in her throat, a wild hunger exploding inside her.

  In a frenzy of desire, she felt for his belt and struggled to unbuckle it. Grunting, he sucked his stomach when the back of her hand made contact with his skin. She ran her hand down the front of his fly, discovering he was hard and ready for her. Then he was kissing her again, deeper, thrusting his tongue into her mouth as he worked her jeans down. He pulled off her boots, then yanked her panties down her thighs. They joined her jeans on the floor.

  All the while she was trying to shove his jeans and his dark blue briefs down. He helped her enough to get them out of the way. She opened her legs for him and felt the velvet tip of his shaft intimately touch her. He was pushing inside when he suddenly stilled. His entire body became stiff, and he struggled for a breath.

  “Damn.”

  “Don’t stop,” she rasped, her body on fire.

  “Lynn—”

  “Don’t. I want you now, Russ. Please.” Pulling his head down to her, she kissed him, sliding her tongue into his mouth.

  He dragged his mouth from hers. “I have to protect you,” he told her, easing away. He leaned over her, and she heard him open a drawer, then heard the tearing of a packet. And then he was with her again, sliding into her, filling her with himself. She felt the impact of his full weight as his hands grabbed her hips and he shoved harder, deeper into the core of her.

  “Ah,” she rasped, her teeth clenched. Earth-shattering pleasure filled her, and she wrapped her legs around his back and held on. Minutes later, her cry was quickly followed by his, and he collapsed on top of her. Their heavy breathing filled the room.

  Russ stirred first, and Lynn felt cool air hit her skin as he rested himself on his elbows and looked down at her. His gaze was hard, his jaw tight.

  “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

  Blushing furiously, she looked away. “Neither did I,” she admitted, her voice raspy. He glared at her then, and she looked away and started to wriggle from beneath him. He moved and sat up, and as gracefully as possible, she scooted to the edge of the bed. Spotting her panties and jeans, she turned her back to Russ as she stood and began dressing, sliding both articles of clothing over her rear and hips in one fluid movement. “Don’t make a big deal out of this. Things just got out of hand.”

  “Yeah, right. We just happened to fall into bed again.”

  “So we’re physically attracted to each other. It doesn’t mean anything,” she assured him. “Since neither of us wanted this to happen, it won’t happen again.”

  Russ moved off the bed and yanked his clothes in place, his movements agitated and awkward as he made his way to the bathroom. His heart hardened at her dismissal.

  When he walked back into the room, she was running her hands through her hair, brushing it from her eyes. His gaze slid over her body, vividly remembering how it felt to be inside her. He looked away and reminded himself that he was playing a dangerous game by becoming more involved with her. Despite the warning, he felt himself harden.

  Damn, he wanted her again.

  Noticing his rigid stance, Lynn cleared her throat. “At least this time, we used protection.” That was only because of his self-control. She’d been begging him to make love to her. Her body felt deliciously satisfied, and she trembled slightly. “I’d better go,” she stated, watching him. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but his dark look didn’t encourage conversation.

  Russ nodded, but didn’t speak. She was awfully eager to be out of his company. He was damned if he was going to apologize for making love to her again. “I’ll try to get another test in the next few days. Or maybe we can get away together and pick one up,” he suggested.

  “In a couple of weeks I’ll have my, uh…” she left the words unspoken, but she knew he picked up on her meaning by his expression. “It won’t hurt to just wait until then.”

  “You’re sure?” He wasn’t convinced it was best to put it off. He’d feel better if he knew before Jake got back from his honeymoon.

  “Yes. I’m sure I’m not pregnant. If I’m late it will be because of the anxiety from all that’s happened. Let’s just wait.” It was then that she remembered her conversation with Ashley. As much as she hated to bring it up, she had no choice but to tell Russ that she’d put a deadline on their imaginary nuptials. She stared at her feet, then drew in a deep breath and faced him. “Uh, there’s something kind of important that I should probably tell you.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “There’s a complication that I, well, I didn’t mean to, uh…” She stopped talking when she saw the wary look in his eyes. She was hesitant to go on, but forced herself to admit what she’d said. “What I’m trying to say is that I sort of told Ashley that we’d set a time for the wedding.” She waited with bated breath for his reaction.

  Russ’s brows lifted. “You what?”

  “She pinned me down, and I didn’t know what to tell her.” As he approached, she inched backward.

  “What exactly did you say?” he demanded, his expression guarded.

  “It’s not as bad as it sounds,” she said quickly, reassuring herself more than him.

  “Spit it out, Lynn.” Russ was losing his patience with her. She didn’t want a relationship with him, but she sure seemed as eager as he had to make love again. She didn’t want to get married, but she’d set a time frame for their wedding. She was confusing the hell out of him.

  “All right, all right,” she answered, glaring at him. “Ashley was asking me if we’d set a date. I told her no, but she kept talking, going on about how hard it is to plan a wedding. I thought if I just gave in and told her that we’d talked about it, she’d let it go. So you see, I really did us a favor.”

  “A favor? You did us a favor?”

  “I didn’t set a date, really. More like a definite time frame.”

  “And that is…” He waited, and the muscle in his jaw flexed.

  “Six months.” Rather than being upset, he appeared puzzled. She stared at him, wondering what he was thinking.

  “Six months?” he repeated, shaking his head. “We’re not waiting six months to get married.”

  “We’re not getting married.”

  “Yes, we are,” he told her, his tone set, his back rigid. “But we’re not waiting six months. We’re not even waiting six weeks.” Marrying her would cause problems, but he’d never thought once about backing off from his word.

  Lynn threw her hands up in frustration. Anger stiffe
ned her spine. Squaring her shoulders, she exclaimed, “I can’t talk to you about this anymore.” She pushed past him and stomped toward the door.

  “Running away won’t help,” Russ shouted back. “We need to settle this, here and now.”

  “I’m not settling this, Russ. No way. I don’t want to get married to you. When I get married, it’ll be because I’m in love. Having sex with you again hasn’t changed anything.”

  Russ’s gut twisted as her blunt words gouged his heart. He should have been prepared for the pain, but in some indescribable way, it hurt more coming from Lynn. Just like his mother, just like Candace, Lynn didn’t want him. “You can fight it all you want, but it’s going to happen. Sooner than you think.”

  He wasn’t going to change his mind. She’d made it clear that she had relegated what happened between them as lust. He could live with that if she could. He wasn’t planning on staying married to her any longer than he had to—just long enough to protect her reputation and to make her brothers happy.

  She opened the door and stomped out.

  Seven

  Russ had thought about it long and hard, and eventually he’d decided to give Lynn a little time to settle down and come around to his way of thinking, but apparently she wasn’t planning on surrendering easily. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she was just as trapped as he was by this whole episode. Annoyed that she was holding her stand against marrying him, he concluded he might have to take a step to push the issue. By the way she was avoiding him, that wasn’t going to be easy.

  She barely spoke to him, which caused even more friction between them. His gut tightened as he watched her dismount the horse she’d been training. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the enticing sway of her hips as she moved around the animal.

  He couldn’t remember a time in his life when he’d wanted a woman this badly. No, not just a woman. It was Lynn he wanted. And though she might want to deny it, she wanted him just as much. But as she’d so bluntly put it, they weren’t in love with each other, nor did they want to be. It would be best if he stuck to his original plan and kept his distance from her. He hadn’t meant to make love to her again. It had just sort of happened. He’d kissed her and had lost his head. He’d have to be more careful in the future.